A statement issued on April 27 by the Archdiocese of Salta explains that the congregation issued a series of instructions on the administrative management of the monastery, the obedience of the Carmelite congregation to the local archbishop and what to do concerning an alleged Marian invocation.

VATICAN CITY — The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life will mediate a dispute between Bishop Mario Antonio Cargnello of Salta and the Discalced Carmelites of Salta of the Monastery of San Bernardo.

A statement issued on April 27 by the Archdiocese of Salta explains that the congregation issued a series of instructions on the administrative management of the monastery, the obedience of the Carmelite congregation to the local archbishop, and what should be done regarding an alleged Marian invocation – popularly known as ” Virgen del Cerro” (Virgin of the Hill) – which nuns promote without the approval of their pastor.

The statement explains that “the Roman Dicastery has decided to appoint an Apostolic Assistant for the monastery” after the Apostolic Nunciature in Buenos Aires announced on April 26 “the completion of the Apostolic Visitation carried out by the Bishop Emeritus of Santo Domingo , Martín De Elizalde, and Reverend Sister Isabel Guiroy at the “San Bernardo” convent.

The appointment of the deputy will be made by “an immediate decree” in which the powers and the person appointed will be indicated.

The visit to the Monastery of San Bernardo, which took place on March 30, “was carried out in an appropriate, correct and competent manner, and the visitors exhaustively fulfilled the mission entrusted to them”, indicates the text.

The Dicastery has determined that the community of Carmelite Sisters of Salta “should not in any way become involved in activities that are part of the well-known devotion ‘I am the Immaculate Mother of the Divine Eucharistic Heart of Jesus and I am the Most Holy Eucharistic Heart of Jesus”, nor support this activity.

This devotion refers to alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary and Christ to Salta parishioner María Livia Galliano de Obeid, which began in 1990 and are believed to continue to this day.

The dicastery clarified that “it belongs to the local Ordinary, or through him to the competent Congregation of the Apostolic See, to discern its veracity and to authorize the practices of veneration in this context.”

“The community of the Sisters of Salta is bound to strictly respect the rules of law in this regard, including strict respect for cloistered monastic life”, continues the text.

The Dicastery noted that “allowing the lay faithful to reside permanently on the grounds of the monastery, to participate regularly in the life of the monastic community and to allow pilgrims access to the grounds of the monastery, constitutes the clear implication” of the Carmelite community in matters of the alleged apparition.

The actions of the nuns, the dicastery pointed out, go “against the will of the bishop and the priests of the diocese, which leads to a division of the local ecclesial community and to conflicts to which the documentation refers” .

“The monastery, by allowing the ‘seer’, Mrs. María Livia Galiano de Obeid, to live in her own premises and by allocating spaces for pilgrims close to this context, is clearly fully involved in this work, against the wishes of the local church,” the congregation stressed.

The statement also emphasized that the community of Discalced Carmelites in Salta “must live the Carmelite charism to the full, not work that consequently leads to tense situations.”

“Therefore, a renewed formation is also recommended in the spirit of the Rule and according to the Carmelite tradition, observing its own tradition of monastic life. In consultation with the local Ordinary, a stable form of regular meetings should be instituted, which would serve to deal with problematic situations on an ongoing basis,” notes the text.

Another point mentioned in the statement of the dicastery is that, although the monastery of San Bernardo “enjoys its autonomy”, “the bishop has the right to visit the monastery and to receive, and the prioress has the duty to present, an annual report on the administration of the property and finances of the monastery.

“The administration of the temporal goods of the monastery must be transparent and presented to the community in all its aspects, because the temporal goods are the goods of the whole community and the Prioress and the Bursar are only their administrators on behalf of the community . the department indicated.

On April 12, a formal complaint was filed with the Office of Family and Gender Violence, under the Judiciary of Salta, by three Discalced Carmelites of Salta against Archbishop Cargnello for allegedly committing gender-based violence and harassment against the prioress and the sisters.

The case is currently before Domestic and Gender Violence Court No. 3, with Judge María Carolina Cáceres Moreno in charge of the case. Local press reported that the Archbishop of Salta will testify before the judge on May 3.

“What the complaint asks for is an end to the danger and acts of physical and/or psychological violence against the prioress and also against the other Carmelite nuns who are inside the monastery. What they suffer is because of their status as women. It is also aggravated by the inequality in the relationship of power implied by hierarchical superiority, which the archbishop has at the ecclesiastical level”, the lawyer for the nuns, Claudia Zerda Lamas, told Argentinian news site Infobae.

ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language sister news agency, contacted the Archdiocese of Salta via email to determine its position on the accusation.

Eduardo Jesús Romani, a lawyer for the archdiocese, responded that the complaint filed with Domestic and Gender Violence Tribunal No. 3 “is generic and none of the facts constitute gender-based violence.”

The lawyer said the charge of “moral and financial abuse” was imposed on the Archbishop. “It is clear that this situation does not exist and is not documented in the file, since the relationship was always based on the obligations that the archbishop has towards the convent. We understand that the context of the complaint is related to the so-called ‘Virgin of the Hill’,” he said.

Finally, Romani said the Archdiocese is “concerned about the situation of the nuns as we believe they are being manipulated” by those promoting the alleged Marian apparition in Salta.

“This is very clear from all the facts studied,” the lawyer said.